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No. s|9,4oo. Patented Feb. |4, |899. .1. E. w. FoGAL. ELEVATOB GATE.

(Application led Apr. 27, 1898.)

o rnc Suf@ No. 6l9,400. Patented Feb. I4, |899.

J. E. W. FOGAL.

EL-EVATUR GATE.

(Application filed Apr. 27, 189B.) (Nu Model.) 2V Sheets-*Sheet 2.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. W. FOGAL, OF QUINOY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN O.DUSSAIR AND HENRY B. DINES, OF SAME PLACE.

ELEVATOR-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,400, dated February14, 1899.

Application led April 27, 1898.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thatI, JOHN E. W. FOGAL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Quincy, in the county of Adams and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Elevator-Gate, of which the following is aspeciiication.

My invention relates to elevators, and particularly to operatingmechanism for elevator-gates, and has for its object to provide simpleand efficient means adapted to be applied to elevators of any ordinaryconstruction whereby the gates are successively opened and closed as thecar approaches and leaves landing.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of anelevator-gate-operating mechanism constructed in accordance with myinvention applied in an operative position to an elevator. Fig. 2 is aperspective View of the friction-bars and support. Fig. 3 is a similarview of the sheave and friction-roller, with the bracket upon which theyare mounted. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the means for guidingthe friction-bar and adjusting the tension of its actuating-spring. Fig.5 is a plan View of the means for securing the upper end of thefriction-bar support to the car.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

In the drawings my improved elevator-gateoperating mechanism is shownapplied to a freight-elevator wherein the car is provided with aplatform 1, a transverse beam 2, and uprights 3, an elevating-cable 4being ernployed, and said car is mounted between guidebeams 5, whileaccess to the car is had between vertical gate-guides 6, between whichis mounted to slide a gate 7.

The attachment constituting the gate-operating mechanism includes asupport 8, consisting in the construction illustrated of a board or itsequivalent secured at its lower end to the car-platform and at its upperend to the beam 2 by means of suitable braces 9 Serial No, 678,966. (Nomodel.)

and 10 or'the equivalents thereof, and mounted upon this upright supportfor horizontal yielding movement are upper and lower friction-bars 11and 12, arranged in parallel positions, respectively, contiguous to thefront and rear edges of the support 8, and hence with an intervalbetween the planes of their contiguous faces or edges approximatelyequalto the diameter of a friction-roller 13, which is mounted in fixedbearings, preferably upon the frame or an attached part of theelevatorshaft. In the construction illustrated the friction-roller 13has its spindle 14 mounted in bearings in a bracket 15, which is securedto a horizontall bar 16 of the elevator-shaft by means of bolts 16a ortheir equivalents eugaging horizontal slots 17 in the securingplate ofsaid bracket, whereby the horizontal position of the friction-roller maybe adj usted to suit the positions of the friction-bars. cured to thespindle of the friction-roller is a sheave 18, to which is attached thelower end of a gate-operating cable 19, forming a connection betweensaid sheave and the gate 7 and extending between said sheave and gateover suitable direction-pulleys 20, 21, and 22, the direction-pulley 2Obeing located above the sheave 18, the pulley 2l (shown in dotted lines)upon or contiguous to one of the gate guides or uprights 6, and thepulley 22 centrally above the gate.

The lower friction-bar 12 terminates at its upper end in the plane ofthe lower end of the upper bar 11, and as these bars are spaced aparthorizontally to frictionally engage opposite'sides of the roller 13 itwill be seen that during upward movement of the elevator-car from apoint below said roller the contact of the inner edge or operative faceof the upper friction-bar will cause rotation of the roller 13 to windthe gate-operating cord 19 upon the sheave 18 and raise the gate, thelower end of the upper friction-bar 11 reaching the plane of the roller13 simultaneously with the arrangement of the car-platform in the planeof the landing, and that a further upward movement of the 'elevatori-carwill cause the lower friction-bar 12 to engage the friction-roller 13,and th'us turn the latter in the opposite direction and lower the gate.

In the same way the downward movement of IOO the elevator-ear toward alanding will bring the operative face of the lower friction-bar intocontact with the friction-roller 13 to turn the sheave, wind the cable19, and elevate the gate, and that after the car-platform has passed thelanding the friction-roller will be turned by the upper friction-bar inthe opposite direction to unwind the cable and lower the gate.

In order that an even yielding pressure of the friction-bars may bemaintained upon the periphery of the friction-roller, they are mountedat their upper and lower ends in angular guide-brackets 23, consistingin the construction illustrated of bars secured at one end to the innersurface of the support 8 and bent to form front arms 24, perpendicularto the plane of said support, and outer arms 25, which are parallel withthe support and between which and the plane of the support thefriction-bars are mounted to slide. In order to prevent verticaldisplacement of the friction-bars and limit the inward movementsthereof, I employ guide-rods 2G, extended through guide-openings 27 inthe perpendicular arms 24 of the guide-brackets 'and threaded orotherwise adj ustably secured to the friction-bars, said guide-pinsconsisting of bolts which are headed, as shown at 28, to bear againstthe outer surfaces of the arms 24 when the friction-bars are at thelimits of their inward movement. Also to insure the proper frictionalcontact of the operative faces of the friction-bars with the peripheryof the friction roller I employ actuatingsprings 29, preferably of theplate type, secured at their centers to the outer or remote edges of thefriction-bars and deflected from the bars toward their free ends forcontact with fixed objects, such as the guide-brackets. In theconstruction illustrated tensionscrews 30 are threaded in theperpendicular arms 24 of the guide-brackets and bear terminally againstthe extremities of the actuating-springs, whereby the resistance oeredby the springs to the separation of the friction-bars or the movementthereof from their normal positions may be varied, thus adapting theapparatus for use in connection with gates of different weights.

It will be seen that by the use of friction devices consisting of thefriction-roller and the yieldingly-supported friction-bars I am enabledto insure the efficient operation of the gate without strain upon theoperative parts and without causing undue resistance to the motion ofthe car, and it will be understood that by employing sheaves ofdifferent diameters or friction-rollers of different diameters I amenabled to secure a movement of the gate through any distance to suitthe conditions under which the apparatus is used.

It will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion, andthe minor details of construction may be :resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Ilaving described my invention, what I claim is- I. A gate-operatin gapparatus for elevators consisting of a friction-roller mounted upon theframe of the elevator-shaft and operatively connected with anelevator-gate, parallel frictionbars arranged upon opposite sides ofsaid friction-roller for alternate contact with opposite sides thereof,upper and lower parallel-sided guide-brackets for each friction-bar,guide-pins carried by the friction-bars at their extremities andextending through openings in the bracket-s, and bowed plate-springsarranged at their convex centers in contact with the rear edges of thefriction-bars, and disposed terminally in the said guide-bracketscontiguous to the said guidepins, substantially as specified.

2. A gate-operatin g apparatus for elevators consisting of afriction-roller mounted upon the frame of the elevator-shaft andoperatively connected with an elevator-gate, parallel friction -barsarranged upon opposite sides of said friction-roller for alternatecontact with opposite sides thereof, upper and lower parallel-sidedguide-brackets for each friction-bar, guide-pins carried by the friction-bars at their extremities and extending through openings in thebrackets, bowed plate-springs arranged at their convex centers incontact with the rear edges of the friction-bars, and disposedterminally in the said guide-brackets contiguous to the said guidepins,and tension screws threaded in the brackets and bearing terminallyagainst the extremities of said springs for varying thc tension thereof,substantially as specified.

3. A gate-operatie g apparatus for elevators, consisting ofyieldingly-supported upper and lower friction-bars, spaced aparthorizontally at their operative faces, a supporting-bracket secured tothe frame of the elevator-shaft and having a slotted securing-plate forengagement by fastening devices, a friction-roller mounted upon saidbracket for alternate contact with the operative faces of saidfrictionbars, and of a diameter greater than the interval between theplanes of the operative faces thereof when the bars are in their normalpositions, a sheave fixed to the spindle of the friction-roller, and aflexible connection between said sheave and the elevatorgate,substantially as specified.

4. Agate-operating apparatus for elevators, consisting of afriction-roller mounted upon the frame of the elevator-shaft, andoperating connections between the same and an elevater-gate, an uprightsupport provided with means for attachment to an elevator-car, pairs ofparallel-sided guide-brackets secured to the said support, with theiropen sides disposed inwardly, toward the friction-roller, twinfriction-bars mounted in said guides for horizontal movement toward andfrom the axis of the friction-roller, and relatively disposed tosuccessively engage said roller at diametrically opposite points duringthe movement of IOO IIO

the elevator-car in opposite directions, and In testimony that I claimthe foregoing as springs for yieldingly holding said frictionmy oWn Ihave hereto affixed my signature in bars in their normal or initialpositions, said the presence of tWo Witnesses.

support, with the attached brackets and fric- JOHN E. W. FOGAL. 5tion-bars, heine,` attachable to an elevator-ear Witnesses:

in operative relation with the friction-roller, S. H. TAYLOR,

substantially as specified. HETTIE L. SIMPSON.

